ONE of the most precious items that we take with us all the time, besides the smartphone, is our wallet.
Since it’s where we put cash, credit cards and identification cards, we panic when we misplace or lose the wallet.
Here’s a solution: the Ekster smart wallet. It’s a new generation wallet designed not to be lost.
One of the pioneers in the smart wallet revolution, Ekster was founded in 2015 by Olivier Momma and Rick Scharnigg, two friends from Amsterdam.
Ekster is Dutch for magpie, a bird which often hides its high intelligence, and has a taste for finding and protecting shiny things.
THE WALLET
At a glance, Ekster doesn’t look like a wallet. At half the size of an ordinary wallet, it resembles a stylish card holder and that’s what its main compartment does — store cards.
The palm-sized wallet can hold up to 12 cards but from the test, five to six cards are the best number for the wallet to work nicely.
Users can access their cards with a click of a button at the corner of the wallet, which acts as an access mechanism.
The cards are immediately ejected without having to open the wallet.
The cool part is that all the cards come out stacked in a pyramid format to make it easy to pick the card that you want to use.
This leather wallet feels durable with neat craftsmanship. The Ekster can last at least three to five years’ use and still look good.
TECHNOLOGY
What makes the Ekster wallet special is the tracking ability.
A solar-powered GPS tracking solution the size of a credit card comes with the wallet.
Leave it under a light source for it to charge for three hours. Once fully charged, it can last up to two months.
Using the Chipolo app, the card can be paired with the smartphone and you can ring the wallet, find it on a map or make use of the widespread Chipolo community to help locate it if lost. The wallet can be tracked worldwide.
If you’re within Bluetooth range, you can send a signal from the app to the wallet and it will start beeping.
Chipolo is known for creating the world’s slimmest and loudest tracking devices. This partnership has allowed Ekster to trim the thickness of its trackers in half (0.22cm) as well as make them sound twice as loud. The upgraded Bluetooth 4.2 provides a more stable connection and doubles the connectivity range.
Each tracker has a unique QR code that links it to your smartphone like a fingerprint.
If your wallet is lost and someone finds it, scanning this QR code will send a message to you,letting you know where the wallet is.
Chipolo’s crowd GPS tracker network spans the globe to help you find your wallet even when it’s out of Bluetooth range.
When any user is within range of your lost item, you receive a GPS update of its location. A fun new feature is the ability to use your tracker as a selfie remote.
The wallet locate mechanism also works the other way around — press the card and your phone will beep, in case you misplace it.
The wallet is also voice-activated, compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.
This means you can now locate your wallet or phone using your smart speaker, or just use voice command on your phone, using either of the two apps.
Google Assistant can make your wallet ring, or it can tell you where it was last seen on a map.
All you need to do is install the Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa app and follow the simple steps to enable Chipolo.
RFID BLOCKING
Credit and debit cards issued within the past decade have RFID and NFC technology embedded.
The problem with cards having this technology is that it can be activated and duplicated from a distance, causing security issues for data like banking information.
There have been cases where people lost their card information because of hackers. To prevent this happening, the Ekster wallet blocks all signals with its aluminum cardholder, keeping users fully protected against data theft.
AVAILABILITY
The Ekster wallet is priced at US$79 (RM335) without the tracker and US$108 with it. It is available at https://ekster.com/ and shipment to Malaysia from the US costs US$14.
Verdict: 4/5